Actuators are used in myriad devices and systems. For example, many vehicles including, for example, aircraft, spacecraft, watercraft, and numerous other terrestrial and non-terrestrial vehicles, include one or more actuators to effect the movement of various control surfaces or components. In many applications such as, for example, aircraft flight surface control systems and missile thrust vector control systems, the actuators that are used may be subject to relatively severe environmental conditions, as well as relatively high magnitude shock and vibration, and are designed to handle relatively high loads.
In order to handle the relatively high loads, many actuators include thrust bearings to transfer the axial force supplied to one or more of the actuation elements, such as a ballscrew, to one or more other components, such as the actuator housing assembly. Although the designs of the thrust bearings that are currently used are generally safe, reliable, and robust, these current thrust bearings do suffer certain drawbacks. For example, many thrust bearings exhibit low efficiency and are relatively heavy. These factors can reduce the overall efficiency of the actuators in which the thrust bearings are installed and/or can increase the overall weight of the actuators, which can lead to increased costs.
Hence, there is a need for an actuator that includes a thrust bearing that exhibits greater efficiency and/or is relatively lighter in weight than currently used thrust bearings. The present invention addresses one or more of these needs.